Portable sifting apparatus

ABSTRACT

A compact, portable, power-driven sifter is provided for use in sifting flour or the like, and is particularly suited for restaurant and institutional use. A basket having replaceable screens is mounted in a housing for horizontal oscillatory movement by means of a motor-driven eccentric linkage, the basket being supported on rollers and guided by sheave rolls against lateral displacement. The housing is supported in a highly raised position by elongated legs to permit pans, trays and the like to be moved in and out from under the unit from any side thereof.

United States Patent Frangos [54] PORTABLE SIFTING APPARATUS [72]Inventor: John W. lh'angos, 2 Brimbal Hill Drive,

Beverly, Mass. 01915 [22] Filed: June 2, 1969 [21] App1.No.: 848,373

[52] 11.8. CI ..209/337, 209/372, 209/405 [51] Int. Cl ..B07b 1/28 [58]Field of Search ..209/337, 372, 327, 329, 330, 209/338, 412, 413, 415,373, 420, 319, 342, 315, 341, 405

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 487,350 12/1892 Pellican..209/337 3,483,974 12/ 1969 Pearsall ..209/395 X 3,520,277 7/1970Gordon ..209/337 X 1 1 Feb. 8, 1972 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS978,148 12/ 1964 Great Britain ..209/405 Primary Examiner-Frank W.Lutter Assistant Examiner-William Cuchlinski, Jr. Attorney-Morse, Altman& Oates ABSTRACT I A compact, portable, power-driven sifter is providedfor use in sifting flour or the like, and is particularly suited forrestaurant and institutional use. A basket having replaceable screens ismounted in a housing for horizontal oscillatory movement by means of amotor-driven eccentric linkage, the basket being supported on rollersand guided by sheave rolls against lateral displacement. The housing issupported in a highly raised position by elongated legs to permit pans,trays and the like to be moved in and out from under the unit from anyside thereof.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures INVENTOR. X JOHN W. FRANGOS WM Man/3ATTORNEYS PATENTED FEB 8 I972 SHEETZUFZ Om wv vvl INVENTOR. JOHN W.FRANGOS ATTORNEYS PORTABLE SIFTING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONI 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to powersifting equipment and more particularly is directed towards a compact;low-cost,v portable sifter for use in restaurants and the like.

2. History of the Prior Art Various types of commercial sifters forrestaurant and in- I stitutional use have been available for many years.However,

sifters of this type heretofore have been rather large, heavy andexpensive machines usually requiring considerable floor space andpermanently installed. It is, therefore, an object of the presentinvention or provide a low cost, portable, compact and power-drivensifter suitable for commercial use and which may be located and usedwith convenience on any suitable flat supporting surface such as a tabletop counter top or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention features a power-driven portablesifting apparatus comprising a housing supported above a table surfaceor the like on elongated legs to provide access from four sides thereoffor pans and the like to the discharge under the housing. The housingencloses a basket with interchangeable screens and is horizontallyoscillated by means of a motordriven eccentric coupling, the basketbeing supported by cooperating rollers for smooth, friction freeoperation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENT In the drawings the reference character generally indicates asifting apparatus comprising a boxed housing 12 set on elongated legs I4which support the housing 12 at a substantial height above a supportingsurface such as a table or counter top, for example. Typically, the legs14 maintain the housing 12 perhaps 5 or 6 inches or so above thesupporting surface. A leg is mounted at each corner of the housing andpreferably is of a relatively narrow cross section to permit a maximumamount of access space between adjacent legs. Each leg preferably isprovided with a suction cup foot 16 for stabilizing the unit of itssupporting surface.

The top of the housing 12 is provided by a hinged cover 18 the largerportion of which encloses a sifting basket 20 while the smaller portionencloses a motor 22 and drive assembly 24. Typically, the cover isprovided with a surrounding gasket The sifting basket 20, as shown bestin FIGS. 2 and 3, is in the form of an open rectangular receptaclehaving generally upright sidewalls 26, preferably of sheet material suchas stainless steel or the like. The walls 26 are formed at the bottomwith an inwardly facing lip 28 which supports the outer margin of anopen mesh screen 30 spanning the otherwise open bottom of the basket 20.The upper portion of the wall 26 is formed with an outwardly extendinglip 32 by which the basket rests on a rectangular frame member 34extending about the basket 20. Tabs 33 are provided for use in liftingthe basket from the frame. In the preferred embodiment the frame 34 isformed from right-angle stock which serves as a holder for the removablebasket and also serves as a track and support for the basket 20 whichundergoes vigorous oscillatory movement when in operation. Thehorizontal portion of the frame 34 extends out from the side of thebasket 20 and rests LII on spaced rollers 36 located along oppositesides of the basket and mounted to the housing 12 by means of a block38. The rollers 36 preferably are of a durable plastic material such asTeflon which provides low frictional support, are quiet and enjoy arelatively long and trouble-free life. Obviously, other materials mayalso be used. The axes of the rollers 36 lie in a horizontal planeperpendicular to the path of travel of the basket 20.

In order to guide the basket against lateral or vertical displacementsheaves or pulley guide rollers 40 are provided, preferably in proximityto the rollers 36, and mounted to the housing 12 so as to engage theouter edge of the horizontal portion of the frame 34. This is best shownin FIG. 3 where it will be seen that the guide roller 40 is mounted toan upper flange 42 of the housing 12for rotation about a vertical axisand it will be understood that there is at least one guide roller 40 oneach side of the basket and preferably two,.one near each corner thereofand serving to guide the basket during oscillation and to preventspurious movements thereof. Again it is desirable that the guide roller40 be fabricated from a lowfriction material such as Teflon or the like.

The basket 20, as indicated previously, is provided with a screen 30across the bottom thereof and in practice the screen 30 is of arelatively wide mesh with finer sifting being available by the use ofaccessory screen inserts 44 such as shown in FIG. 4. The screen 44 maybe of any desired mesh according to the material being sifted. Theaccessory screen 44 preferably is formed with a rectangular frame 46 towhich is mounted mesh screen material 48 reinforced by cross ribs 50.Upwardly extending posts 52 are provided at each end to facilitateinsertion and removal of the accessory screen from the basket. Each postmay be provided with a gripping head 54. Mounted across each end of theframe 46 are bumpers 56, preferably of rubber or other resilientmaterial, which may be readily formed from split tubing or the like. Thebumpers 56 serve to hold the screen insert squeezed in position at thebottom of the basket and prevent the screen inserts from banging aboutas the gasket is oscillated. In practice, each sifting unit would beprovided with a set of screen inserts of various mesh sizes.

The basket 20 is oscillated by means of the motor 22 and drive linkage24. The motor, as previously indicated, is mounted in the rear positionof the housing and typically is provided with a reduction gear assembly58 to provide an output of approximately 300 r.p.m., for example. Thereduction gear assembly is provided with a drive shaft 60 eccentricallykeyed to the inner race of a bearing 62 mounted in one end of aconnecting rod 64. Typically the eccentric is three sixteenths inchesoff center to provide a Ila-inch stroke of the rod 64. The opposite endof the connecting rod is drivingly connected to the basket frame 34 bymeans of a shaft 66 passing through a ball bearing assembly 68 with theends thereof supported in spaced blocks 70 and 72 secured to the basketframe 34. It will be understood that when the motor is energized therotation of the shaft will cause, through the eccentric connection, thebasket to be oscillated back and forth in the direction of theconnecting rod. The material to be sifted is placed in the basket anddischarges from the bottom. By raising the housing in the manner shown,pans or other receptacles may be placed in under the housing to collectthe sifted material as it drops from the sifting basket. Since theshifting unit is raised entirely by means of the elongated legs the unitmay be placed on almost any supporting surface and be used convenientlysince pans or the like may be slipped under the housing between any ofthe legs three-sixteenths side thereof.

Having thus described the invention what I claim and desire to obtain byLetters Patent of the United States is:

l. Sifting apparatus, comprising a. a housing, having a dischargeopening formed in the bottom thereof,

b. spaced elongated legs mounted to said housing for elevating saidhousing above a supporting surface at a height sufficient to permitaccess under said housing and from any side thereof,

c. an open frame mounted for oscillation in said housing,

about horizontal axes and engaging the underside of said flange andspaced annularly grooved rollers mounted for rotation about verticalaxes and engaging the edges of said flange.

2. Sifting apparatus according to claim 1 including a removable screenmounted in said basket, said screen being coextensive with said basket,resilient bumpers mounted along the edges of said screen and uprightposts mounted at the ends thereof.

1! t i t i

1. Sifting apparatus, comprising a. a housing, having a dischargeopening formed in the bottom thereof, b. spaced elongated legs mountedto said housing for elevating said housing above a supporting surface ata height sufficient to permit access under said housing and from anyside thereof, c. an open frame mounted for oscillation in said housing,d. spaced juxtaposed rollers mounted to said housing and engagingopposite sides of said frame for horizontal movement thereof, e. aforaminous basket removably mounted in said frame, f. a motor mounted atone end of said housing, and g. an eccentric coupling connecting saidmotor to one end of said frame whereby operation of said motor willoscillate said frame and said basket, h. said frame being formed with ahorizontal flange extending at least along the sides thereof, i. saidrollers including spaced rollers mounted for rotation about horizontalaxes and engaging the underside of said flange and spaced annularlygrooved rollers mounted for rotation about vertical axes and engagingthe edges of said flange.
 2. Sifting apparatus according to claim 1including a removable screen mounted in said basket, said screen beingcoextensive with said basket, resilient bumpers mounted along the edgesof said screen and upright posts mounted at the ends thereof.